


I hope you like superheroes

by brokenstereotype



Series: some kind of holiday [1]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Calum loves lollipops, Fluff, M/M, Michael is just oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-03-21 21:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3705635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenstereotype/pseuds/brokenstereotype
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke doesn't see the appeal of a guy dressing up in spandex to save the city from nonexistent troubles. It may just be the fact that Michael has made a huge hype about this masked man in tights, but he's just not impressed - until he's on the recieving end of the saving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I hope you like superheroes

**Author's Note:**

> Trying out my hand in Lashton..x

 

 

 

> _"Between your pages, keep me pressed like a flower, a thing to be saved."_
> 
> _-Tyler Knott Gregson_

 

 "How can you say that superheroes are lame, when you've had the same batman bedsheets since you were eight?" Michael says, exasperated. It's too early for this, Luke thinks.

As it is, he just rubs a hand tiredly over his face and prays that the school day goes by fast so he can crawl into his bed and sleep for the rest of the month. Thankfully his mum did the laundry last night, so his favorite sweater is as soft as a pillow and smells like sunshine, he could probably get a decent nap in first period.

"Supeheroes in comic books are cool," Luke says. As he says it, a tall, broad imbecile coughs out " _Loser_ ," and Luke ignores him, thinks about how he can get away from the jocks and neanderthals in a little under a year, once graduation blesses him with freedom from this town.

"But, some guy that likes to dress up in spandex and saves kittens from trees," Luke gives Michael a look. "That's pretty lame, man."

They stop at his locker, Michael pulling his phone out and thumbing through YouTube, while Calum leans against a locker a few down from Luke's, tipping his head back against the cold metal and sticking a red lolipop in his mouth with closed eyes. His whole being is the epitome of bliss, Luke doesn't really understand him.

Michael pulls up a video and practically shoves it in Luke's face, nearly causing him to hit himself in the nose with his history textbook from where he was retrieving it from the top shelf. Luke, with an annoyed huff, turns his attention to the video and tries to look as uninterested as possible.

At first, it's just a video focused on the old library in the center of town, tangled vines stringing down the walls and cold shadows that lead to dead end alleyways. Nothing changes in the shaky video for a handful of seconds, and Luke can feel himself getting more impatient as each second of the two minute video passes. Calum has one eye peeked open, hiding this knowing smile behind his candy.

" _Did you see that?!_ " The guy recording the video says excitedly.

"No." Luke says in a bored voice, and Michael punches his arm.

The guy is pointing to the roof, aiming the camera towards the blue sky, but all Luke sees is the top of the library and three black birds, looking as bored as Luke is, resting on the edge of the building.

Out of nowhere though, this figure appears out of what seems like thin air, clearing the gap between the libary and the postal office without so much as a twitch of hesitation, curling into a barrel roll and landing safely on the roof of the building. The birds, bless them, seem to be just as caught off guard as Luke, as well as the guy filming who is making these weird cawing noises that challenge the retreated birds.

"That's at least a fifteen foot gap," Michael says in this _gloating_ voice, and it's not even about him. "Don't tell me that's not impressive."

Luke watches as the person, the guy in tights, sprints away like it's nothing, disappearing down the side of the building, and then the video cuts to an almost manic expression from the guy behind the camera.

"Alright, so he knows really good parkour." Luke says. "I can cook a pizza without burning the house down, doesn't mean i should become a chef." He shakes his head, switiching out the rest of his books, and when he closes his locker with more force than he means, Michael has this pout on his face that reminds Luke of a petulant five year old.

"You know what Luke," Michael says, and he's actually quivering his lip. "You can go ahead and be a debby downer all the time, while the rest of us actually have fun." Michael says, and walks off, a head full of shocking blonde hair standing out in the sea of students. Once, he dyed his hair this electric pink, Luke could spot him from the other side of the building.

"Does he have to do that?" Luke says, looking over at Calum with a defeated frown.

Calum lazily opens his eyes, "Well, he's not wrong." He says, which, rude, Luke thinks affronted.

Calum pushes off of the wall with his back, stopping in front of Luke and poking him in the cheek to break the frown. Luke cracks, damn Calum and his cherub face.

"What's got you so down, Lukey Bear?" Calum asks in that baby voice he does when Luke's in a bad mood. His mouth is obscenely red, perfectly white teeth beaming with the lazy smile Calum watches him with.

Luke used to wonder why he's never felt anything besides platonic love for him, what with his feather tattoo on his collarbone that is always exposed since Calum's wadrobe consists of nothing but ripped band tanks and skinny jeans, as well as his constant need to always have something hard in his mouth.

(Luke had asked Calum one day about his candy fetish, and Calum had just shrugged, like nobody had ever asked him that question before and said, "I just like sucking on things," and he managed to keep a straight face for all of twelve seconds, before both of them were crying in laughter.

And that is how Luke came out to Calum.)

But then, Luke has seen Calum do some pretty raunchy stuff, things he's not even sure he can repeat out loud, so he's got no worries there. Calum licks at the lollipop, and Luke sags a little, feeling too tired and too _blahhh_ to even want to care about his feelings.

He's lonely. Yeah, he has Michael and Calum, and they're honestly the best, would'nt trade them for the world. But, they can't hold Luke at night when the nights are long, or show him that he actually matters. Well, they do, but in a totally platonic _i've watched you eat cat food till you were 9_ kind of way. 

He can't take it much more though, when Calum brings a different girl to their lunch table every week, saying that, _i think she's the one_ , and then dumping her over text. Michael isn't as bad, though he does get the handful of girls gushing over his new hair color, and then sending flirty looks to Calum, who more often than not is more interested in shoving gummy worm after gummy worm in his mouth, but nobody notices Luke, hiding behind his pb&j with the crust cut off, because he doesn't have anything special about him.

"Just tired," He says. It's not entirely a lie, he is pretty sleepy since he stayed up half of the night working on his english paper. Calum wiggles his eyebrows with a smile, digging in his back pack and holding his hand out to Luke, presenting two chocolate bars.

"Needed a pick me up myself," He says, handing Luke one of the bars, and winking as he bites a chunk off of his own. Luke remembers why Calum is his best mate.

\--

English is easily Luke's favorite class, mainly because Ms. Jessica is a twenty five year old hot mess, who is fresh out of community college and has more boy problems than a math book and spends majority of the class texting, but also because it's the only class that him, Calum and Michael have landed together. There's no assigned seating, so the three of them usually take the corner section; Michael next to Luke, Calum behind Michael.

Except, when Luke tries to take his seat next to Michael, he scoots the chair out of Luke's reach with an ankle hooked around one of the legs. Michael doesn't even look at him, just smiles sweetly at Calum, and pats the seat next to him invitingly. Calum sends Luke an amused smile as he slides passed him to drop in the chair. Luke rolls his eyes, dropping down in the empty seat behind Michael.

The bell rings less than a minute later, a few students making it through the door with just enough time before they're counted as late. Ms. Jessica places her phone down on the desk in front of her, spinning around in her swivel chair to face them all with a bright smile.

"Good morning, sunshines." She chirps. "We're starting a new chapter today, so pull out a piece of paper and we'll get started with notes." Grumbles come from around the room as students shuffle their belongings around, preparing for a slow, boring class.

Luke digs through his back pack, finds a slightly crumbled paper shoved between the pages of his Algebra book, and there's a little doodle of an animated cheese puff in the corner, but he figures he can add on to it, and groans when he can't find a pen.

"Pst," He directs at Calum, who is staring absently at the wall ahead of him, chewing on the cap to his pen.

 "Aye." He says, a bit louder. Calum blinks, turns to Luke with the pen hanging between his teeth, dazed look on his face.

"D'you have a pen-," Luke sarts to ask, when Michael whips his head around so fast, it even makes Luke's neck hurt, and gives Calum a hard look.

"If you give him any kind of writing device, i will not talk to you for two whole days." Michael says. Luke rolls his eyes up, imagines pulling a silver sharpie up to his bleached hair, but thinks bitterly, that Michael would probably love it and absolutely rock the whole aluminum foil look, just in spite of him.

Michael turns in his seat then, looking at Luke with this disgusted face, though Luke knows that by the end of the day, he'll have a lapful of Michael and a cuddle as an apology. Calum sucks in his lips with a poorly concealed grin, releasing his lips with a loud smack. He shrugs, not looking the least bit apologetic as he turns back in his seat and pulls out a blue lollipop from his jacket pocket. Michael cracks a smile, like he's winning this battle, so Luke turns in his seat, tapping two fingers on the desk behind him.

The person sitting there is hunched over a drawing pad, mop of brown curls bouncing as he scribbles hastily into his notebook. He stops though, when Luke thumps his desk, picking his head up sheepishly, and adjusts the glasses on his face so they're no longer perched on the edge of his nose.

Luke's a little shocked, actually. He's been in this class for a little over a month, and yet, he's never seen this boy before in his life.

"Hey man," Luke says. The boy has these wide eyes that Luke gets a little caught up in, almost forgets what he needed to say, because all he can think about is how there's a black bandana wrapped around his head, curls pushed away from his forehead, and yea. That's a nice look.

"D'you have a pen i could borrow?" He asks. The boy blinks at Luke, and then, without looking away from Luke's eyes, hands him the pen that was held loosely in his hand.

Luke takes the pen with a smile, "Thanks bro, i owe ya one." He says. The boy doesn't respond, but he ducks his head on a nod, pulling a pen from behind his ear and going back to his sketching.

Luke frowns, turning back in his chair, and stares at the board. He doesn't even write down a single word of the notes, just adds a little family for his cheese puff doodle, and effectively ignores Michael's puppy glares until the bell rings, and Michael jumps on his back as soon as they leave the classroom, back to being the playful kitten, instead of the attention hungry puppy he gets like when Luke is in a sour mood.

\--

It's the biggest relief once Luke pushes open the doors leading out to the student parking lot, sunlight warming his cold limbs, causing an easy smile to break across Luke's face, closing his eyes and inhaling the fresh air. There's not many people around, most have left fo home a handful of minutes ago, or have stayed behind for after school activities.

Luke has ceramics last period, and Mrs. Kinder is Luke's favorite teacher, so he helps her clean up the tables and sweep the floor before he heads home, and in return, he gets five points added to his grade wherever he needs it most.

Thankfully, Calum doesn't mind him being fifteen minutes late out of school, usually opting to kick back his seat and take a small cat nap, while Micheal messes about with his own hair in the visor mirror, humming along to whatever Pandora station he's created for the car ride home.

Luke hikes his bag further up onto his shoulder, letting out a weak huff when he nearly trips on his own untied shoelaces. He drops his bag onto the sidewalk and kneels onto the pavement, resting his chin on his propped knee as he slowly ties his shoes. He's never really gotten the hang of the perfect loop, always has to do it at least four times, before he can deem it worthy enough, and it's honestly just an inconvenience in his day to day routine.

He's almost got the bunny ear through the loop, when a hard boot connects with his back, and sends him toppling to the pavement, loose rocks and sharp pieces of debris scratch at his face, a burn just on the outside of his eye. Luke hisses through his teeth, going to sit up on his knees, but another brunt kick comes to his side this time, causing him to curl in on hmself with a bitten off cry.

"Fuckin' Loser," The attacker sneers, and Luke recognizes it to be one of the jerks on the lacrosse team, cocky little shits who haven't even won a single game in three years.

Luke rolls onto his back, tries to open his eyes, but the left one feels swollen, twitching against the blinding sun, throb pulsing through his eyebrow. He waits for the next blow, probably aimed closer to his face, waits for the steel toe of a boot to connect with bone.

"Leave the boy alone," A deep voice says, and it honestly startles Luke, this rough growl vibrating his words. Luke peeks his good eye open when he's sure the guy won't kick him anymore, and - okay, so maybe Luke lied, a little.

The guy, wrapped in blue spandex and a face mask that actually looks like he can't breathe through, is standing tall and confident, hands poised on his hips, and yea - he looks like a proper superhero.

There's a leather _X_ strapped across his chest, large yellow _S_ spread across his belly. It's the guy from the video, the one that Michael has been going on about for the past week.

Even has his own fan base, apparently, on Facebook.

Lacrosse lad barks out a laugh, turning to face the blue figure. Luke knows that he should probably get the hell away from this scene, but he feels kind of mesmorized, watching as the guy in deep blue tights flexes his fingers and cracks his neck.

"What, you're gonna stick up for this whimp?" The boy says, amused. He throws his arms out to the side, presenting himself. "What are you going to do, tough guy?" He laughs, and the masked figure cocks his head to the side, a twitch to his lips that Luke can see through the material around his mouth.

When the guy, Smash, Luke remembers Michael calling him, doesn't make a move to take the bully up on his challenge, Luke's attacker shakes his head on a laugh and turns back around towards Luke, flexing his fingers at his sides.

"Pathetic," The guy scoffs, bringing his foot back for the next kick. Luke curls in on himself on instinct, waits for the impact.

It doesn't come though.

Instead, Luke hears the sound of a yelp, and then the sound of a body hitting the pavement, followed by a sickening crack that has Luke snapping his head up. The jock is laying a few feet away from Luke, face first to the pavement, head clutched in his hands. Luke just stares with wide eyes, the jock groaning in pain.

Luke sucks in a breath, looking over to the spot where his rescuer was last. He's not there, no sight of blue as far as Luke can see. He sits there, confused and amazed all in one, looking back over at the jock.

Something catches his eye, laying on the pavement just shy of the injured boy. Luke scrambles up to his feet, keeps his eyes on the object, and with shaky legs, walks over and picks it up carefully. His ribs burn at the movement, and he's having some difficulty breathing, but his adrenaline is keeping it manageable for now.

It's a drumstick.

Luke frowns, runs his fingers delicately over the wood, scratched _A_ near the base of the stick. With one last look at the boy on the ground, and a crude finger aimed in his direction, Luke stuffs the drumstick in his back pack and walks off towards the back of the parking lot.

"You look like hell," Is what Michael says as Luke slides in the back seat. Calum turns around in his seat, frowning at the cuts and bruises lining Luke's face. Luke ignores them, ignores their incessant questioning and their worried looks, just hugs his backpack to his chest and stares out of the car window.

\--

"So, are you going to tell us what happened?" Calum asks around the bubble gum lollipop in his mouth, and not for the first time that morning.

After Calum dropped Luke off at his house, Luke went straight to his bedroom and searched YouTube for any and all videos of Smash. It wasn't much, just short sightings of the masked man and one search that led him to a video of a guy smashing a watermelon with his head. He didn't tell them about Smash. For one, he didn't want to boost Michael's ego any more than needs to be, and he kind of just wanted to keep this private.

"Nothing happened," Luke denies, slumping back in his chair. He doesn't want to talk about how he got his ass handed to him, and had to be saved by a guy in tights. He's been icing his side and there was really nothing he could do about his eye, but, shit happens, right?

"Nothing happened," Calum echoes, and Luke nods. "You have a black eye and a bruised rib, but, _oh_ , nothing happened." He says sarcastically, but Luke just shrugs. Calum looks at Luke for a minute, and then shakes his head with a hint of defeat, and that's that.

"Worksheets today, yay!" Ms. Jessica cheers as she glides into the room, handing a stack of papers to each of the row leaders. "Pair up, and you have till the end of class to finish these."

Michael doesn't even turn around to pass Luke the papers, just flings them behind himself, and Luke glares at the back of his head as papers cascade around his desk. Prick.

It's easy to say that Michael and Calum partner up, leaving Luke to fend for himself. He's just about to accept his fate of being the loner, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets, but when he remembers what he brought with him that morning, he instantly sits back up.

Luke turns around, and the boy behind him is bumping his head along to whatever song is playing in his headphones, absently writing down an answer on the worksheet. He seems lost to the world, and Luke wonders why he's never met this boy before, where he's been hiding this whole time.

 _Behind Calum's big head_ , his subconscious delivers.

"Hey man," Luke says, waving his hand to try and get the boy's attention. The boy freezes in the middle of his air drumming, snapping his head up and looks at Luke, eyes instantly going to his black eye. Luke brings a hand up to his eye, wincing when it throbs, and he knows it looks bad, with how he can barely open it.

"I uh-, i accidentally broke your pen." He says. The pen had been in his back pocket, and when he was kicked to the ground yesterday, it ended up exploding ink to a stain in his jeans.

"I brought you another one though," He assures, holding the pen out like an offering. The boy looks down at the pen, taking it with tentative fingers.

"I hope you like superheroes." Luke says with a breathless laugh, nodding to the comic book print wrapped around the writing utensil. The boy looks at the pen as if it's the most fragile gift he's ever recieved, and Luke decides on not telling him that he got it for a quarter at the grocery store.

The boy doesn't say anything, but he slides the pen in the spiral coil of his notebook, drawing his hands back into a folded position on the desk. Luke figures that the exchange is done, goes to turn back around to at least try and do his work.

"Thanks." The boy says in a low voice, and Luke think's that maybe he's imagined it, but when he looks over, the boy has a pleasant smile on his face, and-, _Jesus_. He has the most beautiful smile.

Luke nods, since his mouth seems to just stop working, and he sends a silent thanks in his head to Michael for banishing him from the front row, because apparently, you meet cute boys when you sit in the back.

"Luke-," He says, and then backtracks, and _shit_ , he can feel his face heating up in a blush. "I meant to ask what your name was," He admits with an embarassed laugh. He has a thought in the back of his mind that hopefully Calum and Michael are well into their work to not notice how flustered Luke is talking to this boy, but then again, they can't really blame him. This boy is just _hot_ , with his bandana and glasses and the ripped band t shirt.

_Breathe, Luke._

The boy giggles, probably the best sound Luke has ever heard, "I'm Ashton." He says, with this wide smile that shows off his perfect teeth. Luke can feel the heat spreading to his neck, and can't help but to match Ashton's bright smile with his own; tongue tucked behind his front teeth and they both just start giggling.

Luke may already have a massive crush on Ashton.

"Did you want to work on this paper together?" Luke finds the words toppling out of his mouth before he even realizes he's talking, and Ashton stops laughing, though the smile on his face gets softer.

"I would be honored," He says. "But, i don't really want to work on the paper." He gives Luke this look, and, okay. Luke may not have a lot of experience in the dating department, but he's been around Calum enough to realize that Ashton is flirting with him.

Luke nods, and his eye is sure to be throbbing by the time lunch rolls around with how much he's smiling, but he turns his chair around and worries about keeping his heart in his chest instead. Ashton drums his hands on the table, and when Luke meets his eyes, they're practically sparkling with how much he's buzzing. Luke raises an eyebrow, though his positive energy isn't unwelcomed.

Luke feels giddy, like a unicorn drinking from a champagne lake.

"You wanna see something?" Ashton whispers like a secret, and flashes Luke a crooked smile when he nods. He slides the notebook, the one he paired with Luke's pen, from underneath his small stack of books, and runs a hand over the cover, looking up at Luke with this wonder in his eye. The cover is lined in silver, though it looks suspiciously like the aluminum from gum wrappers, and in the middle is five black tally marks, crossed pieces of duct tape.

Ashton flips the cover over, and turns the book around so Luke doesn't have to look at it upside down. Luke raises impressed eyebrows as he flips through the pages; neatly drawn sketches of superheroes and super suits to match, adjoining powers to each character, color schemes, and the batman symbol drawn at least a few dozen times.

"Just so we're clear," Ashton says, watching Luke with a pleasant smile. "I _do_ like superheroes."

And that's the moment Luke falls in love.

\--

"We're just meeting up for coffee," Luke insists, the three of them walking through the parking lot to get to Calum's car. He didn't stay after to help Mrs. Kinder today, since he's supposed to meet Ashton in an hour, and he has no idea what to do with his hair. Calum turns around, slowly pulling the sucker from his mouth and proceeds to walk backwards. Luke will never understand how Calum always has a piece of candy in his mouth at all times, yet he's never had a cavity. Lucky bastard.

"A coffee date?" Calum says with a dash of astonishment, like it's a foreign concept. "I thought those only existed in American movies." He frowns, and Luke can feel his heart beat picking up pace.

"It's not a date," He says, though the swoop in his belly contradicts the neutral tone to his voice. "Just coffee." He cocks an eyebrow at Calum when he sends Luke this look he always gives him when he thinks he's being naive. _Practical_ , Luke wants to say.

"Sounds like a date to me," Calum says with a shrug, sticking the candy back in his mouth and spins around, extra pep in his step. Fucker. Michael skips a step, so he can sling an arm around Luke's shoulders and presses a grin into the side of his neck.

"I can't believe you have a date," Michael says. Luke pouts, hoping that they get the hint to just drop it. He doesn't want to psych himself up if it turns out to be just mates getting coffee, kind of an ego bubble burst, that.

"Come on, Lulu." Calum says, and he's stopped in front of Luke, cupping his face between his hands, purple lollipop an unsettling short distance away from Luke's cheek.

"With the way he was looking at you, i wouldn't be surprised if he was going to propose." He says in a teasing voice, and Luke tries to duck out of Calum's reach, tame the blush that's heating up his face, but Calum's large hands just push his cheeks together, until he looks like a guppy.

"Smile, baby!" Calum says, and when Luke does, he's pleased to get the crinkly eyed smile Calum sometimes does when he can't control it, cheeks raised nearly to his eyebrows, and the two of them start laughing loud and bright. Calum smacks a kiss to his forehead, and Luke, clutching a hand to his aching side, feels ready for anything.

\--

Luke gets to the coffee shop fifteen minutes early, which is the bus schedules fault, and he spends that time taking deep, calming breaths outside of the door, and orders a cup of coffee that is more caramel than actual beverage. He pulls up angry birds on his phone as he sips at the hot drink, and he may have looked up a few conversation starters, just in case.

The barista, Shannon, she introduces herself as, stops by his table twenty five minutes later with a sad smile and a large chocolate chip cookie. She keeps glancing his way, sending him small, sympathetic smiles, as Luke finishes his tenth round of angry birds.

There was time, years ago, when Luke was just starting to lose the last of his baby fat, when he would start to question himself. He would ask himself, late at night, why he would rather inhale the musky scent of boy's cologne rather than the sickly sweet perfume that accompanied the girls in his class. He would let his thoughts swirl in his mind, why can't he look at a fit girl and feel something, not the same way he feels when the cute boy in his maths class would stretch out his limbs, shirt riding up and exposing sharp hip bones.

He sends her a half assed smile, not even trying to pretend that he's not breaking with every minute that passes and there's no sight of curly brown hair, a blinding smile, and Luke feels like his heart is straining against his rib cage.

After his third cup of coffee and second pity offered cookie, Luke gives up hope and resigns in his seat.

It's just, how is that even _fair_? The first time that Luke meets a boy who makes his stomach feel like butterflies, he gets rejected before it's even begun. Too good to be true, Luke thinks with a sigh.

He tosses the empty cup in the trash, offering Shannon a defeated shrug, and leaves before his heart can spill out on the counter, next to the sugar packets. The air is thick once he stumbles out onto the sidewalk, doing nothing to provide for the lack of air in his lungs.

He plugs in one of his headphones, puts on his playlist specially made for days like this, and keeps his head down as he makes the walk towards the bus stop. Luke kicks at a loose rock on the sidewalk, thinks _not fair,_ and stuffs his hands angrily in his pockets.

There's children playing along the sidewalk, teenagers slumped on the steps of the apartments lining the street. Luke ducks his head, avoids eye contact, as he nears the group of kids, hums along to the song playing softly in his ear about damaged hearts.

It happens so fast, though in slow motion all the same.

There's a little girl, barely able to keep her feet from tangling, who laughs bright and innocent as she chases after the ball that they've been kicking around. The teenagers on the steps don't seem to notice, but Luke stares with wide, terrified eyes, as the young girl stops in the middle of the street to try and catch the ball as it rolls away from her, just as a speeding car comes into view just at the end of the road.

Luke tries to say something, scream maybe, but his jaw trembles, no words except a horror-stricken " _No_ ," whispered to the air.

The car doesn't slow, and nobody seems to notice, until a shout comes from somewhere; Luke can't even tell how far away he person is, can't feel anything except the cold drip in his bones. The little girl finally retrieves the ball, pleased grin on her face, and then the sound of tires screeching, breaks being slammed to the floor crashes around Luke, and he squeezes his eyes shut tight, clenches his hands into tight balls in his pockets. There's no scream though, no broken cries or the sounds of metal crashing into fragile bones, and Luke cracks an eye open warily.

The car swerves around the girl in a sloppy zig-zag, almost taking out a fire hydrant, and a young woman runs out into the road and scoops the confused girl up in her arms, tears staining her cheeks. The driver of the car has apparently gone into a proper freak out, car jerking this way and that, until it's heading right for him.

He can't move though, knows that if he tries to even flinch, his legs will buckle and turn to jelly, dropping him to the pavement in a seconds time. Luke widens his eyes as the car approaches in a vicious mannor, phone clutched tightly in his hand, _Jay-Z_ yelling in his ear.

Bright headlights burn into his eyes, until he has to close them, can't see how this ends, _how this ends_. Breath held tight in his lungs, he braces himself for the impact.

Two strong arms grip tightly around his middle, and then he's being ripped away, feet sweeping off of the ground. There's a hand clutched under his legs, another one supporting his back, and he automatically wraps his arms around the person's neck, clinging tightly to this stranger and shoves his face in the flimsy material stretched across a toned chest. He doesn't open his eyes, not until he's placed gingerly on the cold ground, gentle hands sliding along his sides and briefly through his sweat soaked hair. He blinks his eyes open, tries to rid of the fat tears obstructing his vision.

His stomach feels like a block of lead, face tingling from where his tears are drying, burning in his throat from a soundless scream. Tears spill down his face, but Luke doesn't acknowledge them, just stares in wonder at the figure hovering over him, halo of light glowing around his masked form. The suit is generally the same since Luke's last seen it, but this time, there's a thinner material over his mouth, spandex a darker shade of blue, and the _S_ is now red, a small patch near his left shoulder.

Luke can't even form a coherent thought, let alone voice them, while Smash just looks down at him with heaving breaths. And then, like a light switch, he's ducking away, scaling the side of the finance building, and disappears from sight without as much as a sound.

This time, Luke sees the two drumsticks strapped to his back, crossed like an _X_. Luke lets out a breath, doesn't remember when he last took in an inhale, and lets his head thump back against the brick wall of the building he's slumped against, bringing a hand up to clutch his racing heart through his chest.

He sits like that, until he feels as if his legs won't fail him, and stumbles out of the alleyway just a few streets from where he nearly _died_ , and tries to remember what it's like to breathe normally again.

By the time he gets home, his limbs feel numb, head throbbing, and he drags himself to his bedroom, starfishing across the bed without changing his clothes or removing his shoes. The weight of the day pulls his bones deeper in the matress, eyelids heavy, but everytime he closes his eyes, flashes of headlights and small children and blue make his heart race and he ends up staring mindlessly at the wall.

\--

It's the brink of evening, sun disappearing below the horizon, sky spilling into pinks and oranges. Luke stares absently at the tv, not even bothering to turn it on, half of his limbs hanging off of the couch, face smushed against the throw pillow that doesn't even match the couch.

He's replaying the event in his mind for the hundreth time, too many possibilities of what could have happened wrap around his mind, each one more gruesome than the last, until he's snapped out of his thoughts by somebody knocking on the front door.

With a groan, Luke slides off of the couch and stumbles to the door, running a hand through his already mused up hair, opening the door with a lazy yawn. He's met with the back of the persons head, and Luke nearly swallows his own tongue from how fast he sucks in a lungful of air.

It's Ashton, and he's scanning the front yard as if he's lost, but all Luke can do is stare with wide eyes as Ashton slowly turns around with a neutral expression, face immediately lighting up once he sees Luke.

"Hey man," Ashton says with a wide grin. "Was hoping i had the right house." He has something in his hands, clutching his long fingers around it absently. He starts though, when he sees Luke eyeing the object, and Ashton holds it out to him, placing it in Luke's hands.

"Listen," Ashton starts, sounding apologetic. "I didn't mean to bail on you, i swear i was on my way, but there was this accident right by the bakery, and this girl was trapped in the car upside down-," Ashton's not looking at him as he talks, but Luke just stares down at the object in his hand; his phone that he must've forgotten in the alleyway, headphones wrapped snug around the device, not a single scratch.

"God, she was so scared and i kept trying to calm her down, but there was glass and blood, like, _everywhere_ , and then by the time i managed to get her out and made sure she wasn't going to pass out, you were gone." Ashton says, looking up at Luke with this pout, and Luke stares back with a heavy heart.

"You-," He starts, then stops. Not knowing where to begin, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a few seconds.

"You saved her?" He asks breathlessly.

Ashton shrugs, "Wasn't going to leave her there." He says like it's the most obvious thing, Luke feels like a complete asshat.

He runs his thumb over the screen of the phone, and Ashton lets out a sheepish laugh. "I-, uh. I found that when i was leaving the coffee shop, kind of figured it was yours, what with that background and what not." He laughs, a fond sort of smile playing across his face. Luke closes his eyes on a flushed smile, thinking about the picture of him, Michael and Calum dressed as the Ninja Turtles for halloween last year. Luke feels weightless, like he can finally get over the events of the day, and just be.

But then, "How did you know where i live?" He asks, skeptically. Ashton scrunches his face up, letting out an embarassed laugh. "Would you believe me if i said i had a hunch?" Ashton asks with a tilt to the end, hopeful. Luke looks at him blankly, and Ashton sighs.

"Alright, fine. We used to ride the same bus years ago, and i guess i was just hoping that you still lived at the same house." He shrugs his shoulders, but there's a down turn to his lips, and Luke doesn't like that.

"Thank you," Luke says, because he thinks that's the most important thing right now. Ashton saved a girl, for crying out loud, he deserves compliments. And maybe cookies.

Ashton's smile picks back up, linking his hands behind his back, rocking on his heels.

"I am sorry, ya know, for bailing on you." He says in a quiet voice. "And if you still want-," Ashton bites at his bottom lip, and something in Luke short circuits.

"I'd still like that date with you." Ashton says. Luke can't help the wide smile or the blush that flares up his neck at those words. He kind of feels like laughing, maybe cry, or maybe he'll just fly away with the herd of butterflies in his stomach. Instead, he leans his head on the doorframe, smiling shyly at the boy on his porch steps.

"Yeah, i'd like that too."

\--

"Favorite animal," Ashton says, taking a bite of his burger.

Luke wipes a bit of sauce from the side of his mouth, "Penguins." He says around the bite in his mouth. Ashton wrinkles his nose, though he looks anything but disgusted. _He's so perfect_ , Luke's subconscious gushes.

They ended up getting burgers from a place by the boardwalk, sitting on the barrier that separates the beach from the walkway. Luke's always imagined what his first date would be like; some cliched movie date that ended with a kiss goodnight, and maybe a boyfriend to end the night.

But now, with the lights of the ferris wheel in the distance, the water crashing gently against the shore, Ashton's warm smile and the most delicious burger Luke has ever had, he thinks back to his imagined first date, and thinks, suck it.

"Favorite movie," Luke suggests. Ashton hums, wiping a napkin over his mouth. Luke picks at the few fries he has left, and tosses them onto the beach, watching as a few seagulls attack each other for the food. One doesn't get any, as the other two flap away happily, and Luke frowns. He tears off a piece of his burger, drops it a few feet in front of him.

"Pursuit of Happiness." Ashton says, and Luke nods approvingly. The seagull waddles over to the hunk of food, taking off with it in its mouth, and Luke smiles a little. 

"Love Will Smith," They both say at the same time. Luke meets Ashton's excited eyes with his own widened eyes, and then they both start laughing, burgers long forgotten, voices carrying through the open air. They sit in a comfortable silence, soft breeze chilling the evening air.

"Special talents," Ashton says after a handful of minutes, easy smile on his face. Luke takes a sip from his drink, "Don't have any." He says. Ashton looks away from the water, shooting Luke a look of disbelief. "I don't believe that," Ashton says, and Luke shrugs, tries to be nonchalant.

"It's true, i'm a pretty simple man, nothing special about me." He says. Avoiding Ashton's heavy gaze, Luke picks at the loose strands on his jeans, wondering if maybe he should have lied, so Ashton doesn't realize he's on a date with the most plain vanilla person ever.

"Don't say that." Ashton says, face turned down in a pout. "I know there's something special about you," He says as an afterthought, and he sounds so sure of himself, but Luke just doesn't get it.

Ashton should be off, like, making sure the sun rises in the morning with his ridiculous smile, or bringing joy to sad people with his adorable giggle. Why should he be bothering with Luke anyways? Luke brushes his hands off on his jeans, looking up at Ashton with a guarded look.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but the only thing that ever makes me different from the next guy, is my sexuality." It comes out bitter, but Luke has just had enough of people telling him that he's the same as the next bloke, a nobody, and he actually believes them.

He hops down from the wall barrier, walking to the edge of the narrow boardwalk and bends to take his shoes and socks off, rolls the bottom of his jeans up to his ankles. Ashton remains on the barrier, just looking at Luke, waits until Luke is near the lifeguard stand to join him in the sand.

"I'm going to tell you a story," Ashton says, and Luke pretends to inspect the chipped wood on the lifeguard stand.

"Once upon a time, years and years ago, little Ashton Irwin went to the park to show off his new bat mobile toy. While he was playing, he heard a laugh, but to his ears it sounded like how warm homemade chocolate chip cookies make you feel." Ashton says, as he walks closer and closer to Luke, who stares absently at the other end of the beach, listening to Ashton's slow but inviting voice.

"The boy was the most beautiful sight that little Ashton's ever seen, but when he tries to go talk to the boy, his mother is calling him in for dinner time, and then he's gone." Ashton says, stopping a few feet from Luke, voice vulnerable and open. Luke feels like his throat is closing, feeling the emotions of when he had his first boy crush, scared and confused.

"Little Ashton ran all the way home to tell his mum about the cute boy he'd seen at the park, but she just smiled and said that it was nice to make new friends." Ashton says with a hint of hurt, like he's known that she was wrong from the beginning.

"Little Ashton didn't see that boy again, though he never forgot about him, never stopped trying to find the right shade of blue that matched his eyes, not until he saw him again."

Luke swallows roughly, "And how did that turn out?" His voice is thick, a feeling like relief floods through his bones. Ashton's story bringing back the memories of his younger days; dying his hair, changing his clothes, just to fit in. But, those days seem forever ago, and now there's Ashton, who didn't even question his feelings about another boy, just wanted to find him again.

"You tell me," Ashton says. Luke frowns, turning around to face him, and suddenly, they're only a few inches from each other, this heavy gaze in Ashton's eyes. Luke can feel his heart starting to pick up pace, looking at Ashton with a cracking facade.

" _Me_?" Luke asks in a mere whisper, all the air in his lungs seeming to escape him. Ashton smiles, just a small tilt to his lips, but Luke feels like something is wrapped tight around his heart. It's just, here's Ashton; sweet, sunshine Ashton, telling Luke that he's what, fancied him since they were tikes?

"I've never had a boyfriend," Luke admits, and he didn't mean to say that, but he's feeling overwhelmed and he can feel his bones practically vibrating against the wood of the stand he's resting his weight against.

"Do you want one?" Ashton counters, and he's looking at Luke carefully, like he'll be fine with whatever Luke decides. He's not real, Luke concludes, but the way Ashton is smiling softly and comfortingly at him has Luke feeling like he's proper flying in the clouds, and it's a feeling that Luke never wants to let go of.

"I want _you_." He says. It's such a heavy confesssion, barely louder than the wind around them, but Ashton's smile stretches wider, until twin dimples are apparent on his cheeks, and Luke is afraid that all of his feelings are just going to spill out of him, probably in the form of rainbows and kittens.

"You have me," Ashton says, closing the small distance between them, voice as soft as feathers. "You've had me for years, actually." He says with a sweet smile. Luke can feel his face heat up to a sauna, and prays that the moonlight is dim enough to not show how much he's buzzing.

"Sorry, i didn't get the memo." He says, never taking his eyes away from Ashton's. The sand underneath his feet is cold, and he wiggles his toes in it, feels giddy in anticipation.

"Well," Ashton says, like a challenge. "What're you gonna do now that you know?" He's got this gleam in his eye, like he's enjoying teasing Luke, making his heart stutter and his knees tremble. He licks his lips slowly, and Luke can't decide if he does it on purpose or not. Luke can feel his heart pounding at what seems like an inhuman pace, though he can hardly think of anything besides the overwhelming scent of salt water mixed with the musky tones from Ashton's cologne, reminding Luke of summer and sunshine and love.

He's surging forward with the thought of Ashton's infectious, yet disease-curable laugh, muffling the surprised sound that escapes Ashton, and squeezes his eyes shut tight, letting the press of their lips define how Luke feels. Ashton tilts his head just a tad, and it's like something clicks into place, like the feeling of finally finding the right key to fit the lock. Ashton crowds closer, effectively pinning Luke against the lifeguard stand, and kisses him with such intent that Luke can feel it all the way down to his toes. Ashton breaks the kiss after a handful of minutes, or hours - Luke can't feel his mouth. 

"Woah," Ashton breathes out, darting back in for another peck, and then smiles at Luke with the intensty of a thousand suns.

"Yeah," Luke says, eyes never leaving their new favorite place; Ashton's kiss swollen lips. Well, that is until Ashton kisses him again, and this time, they don't stop, not until night has fallen and Luke is nearly falling asleep against Ashton's mouth.

\--

"So Ashton," Michael says in this tone that suggests he's about to pull the best friend card. "What are your intentions with my Lucas?" He says.

Luke rolls his eyes, though a spark runs chill through his bones when Ashton squeezes his hip. Calum, in his natural habitat of sugary sweets and a cool face, smiles fondly across the lunch table at them.

"Well, this weekend we're going to a party my cousin is throwing," Ashton says, smile turning smug when Michael narrows his eyes and Calum raises impressed eyebrows with a nod. Luke feels this swoop in his belly when he thinks about what's in store for him on friday; sweaty bodies packed close together in a small living room, cheap alcohol and stale smoke suffocating the air.

As if sensing the anxiety literally thruming through Luke's bones, Ashton pulls at Luke's hip, sliding him close against his side, and slips the tips of his fingers under the hem of Luke's shirt, stroking his side comfortingly. Luke feels his heartbeat start to settle, a sigh escaping past his lips, like relief.

"Luke doesn't do well in crowds, and is possibly the most socially awkward person to exist." Michael points out, which is true, but also a tad hurtful. He levels Ashton with a hard stare, challenge in his eyes.

"Wouldn't even think about letting him out of my sight," Ashton says sincerely. "Plus, i was thinking you two should come with us." He takes a bite of his banana, grin pulling at his lips when Michael's eyes practically glimmer in excitement, and Calum nods, impressed, around a gummy bear.

"C'mon," Ashton says softly in Luke's ear, rubbing at his side before pulling away. "I'll walk you to class." He slides off of the bench, and while Luke gathers his belongings, Ashton sends a sly smile towards the two other boys.

"Oh, and wear something you wouldn't mind getting ruined." He says, and Luke frowns as he slips his hand in Ashton's, but Michael just looks delighted, and Calum is squinting at the back of his gummy packet, as if he hasn't read the same information like his favorite book.

They walk slowly through the halls, taking their time since the bell hasn't rung yet. It's nice, Ashton's warm, strong hand wrapped around his, no interruptions, just the two of them in blissful silence before they have to separate towards their respective classes.

When they make it to Luke's class, Ashton leans his back against the wall, pulling Luke into his arms by the light grip he takes on his hands. Luke goes easily, arms wrapped around Ashton's waist as he nuzzles his face in th juncture between his neck and shoulder. Ashton grazes his hands over Luke's hips, before sliding them in the denim of his back pockets. They stay like that for a few moments, Luke content enough to just fall asleep against Ashton's warm chest; the sweet smell of cinnamon from the pop tart he ate at lunch still clinging to his clothes.

Ashton hums, "Not that i'm complaining," He says with a smile in his voice. "But, is there a reason your ass is vibrating?"

"Oh," Luke perks up at that, not even noticing that his phone was going off. He pulls his phone out of his back pocket, rolling his eyes at the slew of text messages in his notifications.

"Mikey's been harassing me with links to his blog all week." He explains as Ashton watches him scroll through the batch of messages. It's just a continuous stream of the same link, all of them pointing to the same direction, but Luke hasn't told Michael that he secretly stalks his blog while he lays in bed at night, has seen all of the blurred images of blue and has an identical drumstick that crosses Smash's back, stuffed in his backpack.

"Why do i imagine Michael's blog to be filled with hair color ideas and horrible punk edits of kittens?" Ashton says thoughtfully, smile on his face like he can imagine it perfectly.

"That's his main blog," Luke assures. "But he has a side blog now dedicated to-," He cuts himself off, not wanting to meet Ashton's eyes, but he can feel how his face is twisted in a sort of pained expression. Ashton rubs at his hip, soft smile on his face.

"Okay," Luke says, preparing himself. "There's this guy around town, and he's like a superhero type person; has the tights and everything." He can feel himself smiling despite himself, the excitement in his voice making his words come out rushed.

"And he goes around and just like, _saves_ people." He says, and it honestly does feel good to talk about it, because it's been at the back of his mind for days, plaguing his every thought. Ashton is looking at him with this easy smile on his face, hands resting at Luke's hips, a twinkle in his eyes that looks rather fond.

"It's crazy, right?" Luke says. "I mean, how can somebody just decide one day that they want to be a superhero, and just, _do it_?" He finally looks up at Ashton, eyes wide and vulnerable, he just wants somebody to tell him that this is real. Ashton hums thoughtfully.

"I like to think there's a little bit of superhero in all of us." He says softly, and he reaches up to unclap the necklace from around his neck, hooking it around Luke's with gentle fingers. Luke closes his eyes against the feeling of cold metal to his chest, brings his fingers up to palm the key in his hand.

The bell rings, knocking Luke out of his bubble amd making him flinch, and Ashton laughs, pulling him to his chest and placing a kiss to his lips.

"I'll see you after class," Ashton says, waiting until Luke enters the classroom to make his trek to his own class. Luke texts Michael back a simple, _fuck off_ , and spends the rest of class scrolling through his blog and saving every decent picture of Smash to his phone. The key sits against his chest like a reassurance. 

\--

"I'm starting to think that this is all a ploy, so you can kill us and store our bodies in an abandoned building." Luke says, letting out a nervous laugh. He's kidding, for the most part, but Ashton has taken them to a part of the town nobody ever really goes to, hidden behind a creepy forest and they've been driving down this dirt road for what feels like a year. There's also the fact that Ashton gave him one of his ratty old band t shirts to wear tonight, letting him know that it's alright if it gets messed up.

His stomach lurks with the nerves bubbling inside of him. Ashton reaches over the middle console and places his hand on Luke's thigh, looking away from the road for a second to send him a comforting smile.

"Relax babe, we're almost there." Which doesn't settle Luke's nerves at all.

They pull up to a parking lot, where dozens upon dozens of cars are scattered about, and Ashton parks near a large barn, the red paint faded and one of the windows has a hole through the glass, like somebody threw a rock at it. The gravel crackles under the weight of their shoes, Ashton stops Michael once they get out of the car so they can decide designated drivers.

"Not to be a buzz kill-," Calum says, slowly sliding the blue lollipop out of his mouth. "But, isn't this the old apartment complex that crazy dude who killed his wife owned?" Calum's pointing in the direction of the large building; cracked brick walls with an eerie feeling that curls like smoke around Luke's bones.

Luke remembers hearing, years ago, about this man who just went completely psycho, remembers hearing the news lady saying that he was mentally ill, and other words that didn't make sense to his younger self. The town made a somewhat silent pact to never go near the estate after the man set his house to flames, then blew his own brains out just outside the front steps.

"Ready?" Ashton's voice is suddenly right at his ear, hand gently curling around his elbow, one long finger at a time. Luke takes a minute to breathe in the smokey tang of Ashton's cologne, lets his lungs bathe in the familiar scent, and then breathes out most of his anxiety and nerves. He smiles at Ashton, just a small one. Ashton matches his soft smile, sliding his hand down the inside of Luke's arm, sending a shiver in it's wake, and twines their fingers together.

There's only a few people littering about outside; either smoking a cigarette, or talking on the phone. Ashton leads them up four flights of stairs, the only sounds being the echo of their footsteps, and the occasional smack of lips from Calum. Once they make it to the top floor, there's a large wooden double set doors, faint sound of thumping bass slipping past the crack at the bottom of the door.

"Gentlemen," Ashton says with a stretched smile. "Welcome to The Blackout."

As soon as Ashton slides the door open, it's like a whole other world has been opened along with it. It's the type of scene that Luke's only ever heard about, or seen in movies. The four of them stand at the top of the stairs, looking out at the sea of bodies, the sea of colors.

The whole flat is void of any furniture or household items; there's a dj booth at the front, music so loud, Luke can feel it vibrating his teeth. There's people in nearly every corner of the flat, glow sticks around heads and wrists and any place they'll stay, neon colors painted like tribal marks upon shirtless bodies. No artificial lighting can be seen as far as Luke can tell, though he does spot a corner of the room that houses more alcohol than he has ever seen.

It's a proper blacklight party.

"Sick!" Calum yells over the music, face lit up like he's just stepped into paradise. Calum looks at the two of them with a smirk, tipping an imaginary hat their way, lollipop stick seeming to glow under the neon paint around them. He slowly decends the stairs, and suddenly, he's got a glowstick around his head and a pretty blonde on his arm.

Michael squeezes his shoulders as he bounds passed him, heading in the direction of the alcohol, and Luke keeps it pinned to the back of his mind to keep an eye out for them. Large crowds may be their thing, but Luke doesn't want to have to drag them out of the building if worse comes to worst.

"C'mon, babe." Ashton pulls on their twined hands, leading Luke down the stairs and in the mess of people. Luke keeps a tight grip on Ashton's hand, brings his other hand up to fist in the material of Ashton's shirt; a simple white tee that wraps snug around his arms and nearly made Luke drool when he saw him.

Ashton leads them to a spot by the alcohol, where a girl with pink and blue butterflies on her cheeks is in the process of painting a guy's face in tiger stripes. They wait a few feet away, Ashton looking out over the crowd of people with a pleased smile, while Luke feels like he's running on a limited supply of air and his shirt feels two sizes too small in the packed room.

Once the guy is successfully painted, he walks off, and Ashton steps closer to the girl. He releases Luke's hand, and Luke pulls at the hem of his shirt, feeling way out of his comfort zone. Ashton says something to the girl, and she looks over at Luke with a bright smile, nodding to Ashton with some excited words Luke can't make out. Ashton beckons him closer with his pointer finger, and Luke happily slides close to his side, looking at the variety of paints and glow sticks on the table next to them.

When he looks back over at Ashton, his eyes widen when he sees him pull the white tee over his head, exposing delicious tan skin and Luke takes a minute to burn it into his memory. Ashton tosses the shirt somewhere, doesn't seem bothered as to where it lands, and picks up three containers of paint; blue, pink and green. He holds them out, and Luke frowns at his muscular chest.

"What?" He asks, more like yells, but Ashton takes his hand and flips it palm up, placing the containers in his hand. When Luke continues to look at him rather unsure, Ashton creeps in on him, until his bare chest is inches away from Luke's reach. He cocks his head to the side, brings his lips up to brush against the shell of Luke's ear.

"Don't you wanna paint me?" Ashton asks in this far too innocent voice. Luke swallows hard. "I want your hand prints all over my body, let them know who i belong to." He nips at Luke's ear before backing away, puffing his chest out with this expectant smile. Luke looks down at the neon colors in his hand, then to Ashton, who seems to be glowing in the dark flat, and feels this burst of adrenaline ripple through his bloodstream.

He places the containers on the table, taking his time in removing each lid, and then turns to his boyfriend. Ashton raises an eyebrow, lazy smile on his face. Luke scoops out some of the pink with his finger, watches the way it drips down his finger, illuminating in the bright lights. Ashton watches him, roams his eyes all along his body, bright teeth peeking out from under a grin.

Luke slowly brings his finger to Ashton's collar bone, but before the paint makes contact, he sends a wink to Ashton and drops his mouth to nip at the sharp jut of his collarbone. Ashton gasps, Luke can feel it ripple through his body, and Luke sucks at the skin, making sure to trail his tongue along the hollow dip. He brings his face back up to look at Ashton; head thrown back and eyes closed in content.

When Ashton brings his darkened eyes back to meet Luke's, Luke drags his paint covered finger slowly across his lips, making a show of wiping away some excess paint from the corner of his mouth. Ashton licks his lips, and when Luke leans down to press his lips to the center of Ashton's sternum, he fists a hand in the back of Luke's hair, keeping him pressed against his skin. Luke trails kisses all along the expanse of Ashton's torso, taking extra time to tease his nipples, and when he pulls away to admire his work, he is not disappointed. Ashton's chest is littered in pink kiss marks, but Luke's not done yet.

He scoops out some of the blue paint, swirls it around between his fingers with pursed lips, and then rubs his hands together until they're both completely covered in blue. Ashton is still gazing down at the assortment of lips on his body, so when Luke brings both of his hands to either of Ashton's hips, he nearly chokes at the cold paint on his skin, and his eyes are wide with about a dozen emotions when he locks eyes with Luke.

Luke grips hold of his hips, brings his hands around to the small of Ashton's back at the same time he leans down to connect their lips. Ashton's hands are pressed against Luke's chest, fisting at the mateial of his shirt, as Luke trails his hands along Ashton's back, tentatively slipping his fingers just past the waitsband of his jeans. When he can hardly keep track of his hands path due to the deep, lazy kiss Ashton is lost in, he pulls his hands away and takes a step back. Ashton's eyes flutter open, and he grins, wide and bright, as he twists around to check out the handprints on his back.

"Thanks, babe." He says, pressing a quick kiss to Luke's lips, and turns towards the table to recap the paint. Luke takes a second to admire his work, the two handprints right at the bottom of Ashton's back, leading into his pants, fingertips not visible. It looks sick, but Luke may be a little biased, but he's definitely going to need a picture of this, or a repeat, with less people around.

When Ashton turns back around, he has a few containers of paint lined up on the table, four glow sticks off to the side. He looks at Luke expectantly, and when Luke doessn't move, Ashton pointedly looks at the hem of his shirt, and back up to his face with this gleam in his eye. Luke shyly crosses his arm across his lower stomach, dropping his eyes to the glitter filled floor.

Ashton pulls at the front of his shirt, until their faces are literally an inch away, and he studies Luke with a cautious look; calculating. Luke doesn't meet his eyes, but he knows that Ashton gets it, from the way he places a feather light kiss to the tip of his nose, and rubs at his side comfortingly.

"You don't have to take your shirt off," Ashton says softly. "I just want to know that it's only me who gets to mark you up." And like, Luke gets that.

He likes the idea of Ashton's handprints being visible on his skin for all of these people to see, but he already feels exposed as it is, in this world he doesn't belong in, he just can't be anymore exposed. Ashton catches his eyes, sends a small smile, and Luke nods, drops his forehead to Ashton's shoulder.

Ashton dips his hand in the purple paint first, keeping the other on Luke's hip. From the way Luke is leaning, his shirt falls away from his body, so Ashton slips his hand under the material, and carefully, presses his hand to Luke's tummy, kissing his temple like reassurance. It's cold, and Luke gasps, can feel Ashton shudder when it goes straight to his ear.

Ashton brings his hand up, and places it this time over Luke's right pec, bringing his lips down to his neck. Luke breathes out, bringing his arms up to loop around Ashton's neck, dragging his lips over the shell of his ear. Then Ashton places his hand to different parts of his chest, and they sway to the slow rhythm of the song, Luke's lips to the juncture of Ashton's neck and shoulder.

"Beautiful," Ashton breathes out, reaching over to dip his hand in the neon orange paint, squeezes at Luke's hip with his other hand, and when Luke looks up at him, Ashton kisses at his cheekbone delicately, before dragging his finger along the place his lips just took.

Luke watches Ashton's face; the twinkle in his eyes, the focus on his face, and he can't help but to drop a kiss to his lips once Ashton pulls his hand away from his face. Ashton brings his hand up to wrap cold fingers around the back of Luke's neck, and Luke's mouth falls open at the different stimulations; the cold chill of the paint on his neck, the warm heat of Ashton's mouth, the bass reverberating through his body.

When they pull back, Ashton has a wide smile on his face, and he pulls his phone from his pocket, snapping a quick picture of Luke's face. Luke feels his face crack into a squinty eyed smile when he sees the bright orange whiskers on his face, and makes sure to document Ashton's own artwork on his body.

Ashton leads him over to the alcohol table, pours them both a mixed drink and pulls Luke to a corner of the room where it's darker than the center of the room, less people and more private. Ashton sits on the floor against the wall, and tugs at Luke's hand, until he curls up in Ashton's lap, steadily sipping out of his cup.

They sit there for a while, enough time that both of their cups have been refilled and emptied twice, and Luke is lazily trailing kisses along Ashton's neck, feels like there's a fire under his skin. Ashton rubs at his back, humming in approval whenever Luke's teeth scrape across his skin. Luke's just about to suggest to Ashton that they should move this private party to his car, when a figure looms over them, Ashton's groan vibrating against Luke's chest.

Luke doesn't hear what the intruder says, but Ashton is suddenly moving Luke's body, so he is on the floor rather than Ashton's warm body, and then he is standing up, and Luke glares up at the person. The two talk in hushed voices, hand gestures being used excessively, and then Ashton is looking over at Luke with a hard stare. He crouches down, so he is level with Luke, and takes his chin in between two fingers.

"I need to go check on something," Ashton says, and Luke pouts. "I won't be long, babe. Do you think you can go find Calum or Mikey until i get back?" He asks. Luke nods, even though he has no intention of getting up, and Ashton places a kiss to his forehead before disappearing through the mess of alcohol and neon splatters.

Luke doesn't know how long he sits there, but it couldn't have been more than a handful of minutes until there's shouting, people rushing to the front door, and Luke stands on slightly wobbling legs, moves with the rushing line of people.

It feels like daze with the way the beat of the pounding song makes his legs shake, and the alcohol is no help either. It's like a mad house once he gets outside, nearly slipping down the steps on some spilled alcohol, but once he gets safely to the front of the building, he has to blink his eyes a couple times to get the blurring image clear.

It seems like everyone who was inside of the flat, is now in the front yard, hands placed over mouths, eyes wide in worry. Luke stumbles to the driveway, eyes burning from the heat and bright orange.

The barn, which Luke was afraid was going to collapse at a seconds notice, is now engulfed in angry flames, licking against the windows, and taunting them of what they can't defeat. There's people throwing buckets of water at the building, though it shows no match, and Luke idly wonders if it's actually water in there.

"Jesus, there you are!" Calum's voice comes from his right, and then he's wrapping Luke up tight, smelling like a bonfire and undertones of alcohol.

"I thought you were with Ashton, i was so worried." His voice is shaky, like he's on the verge of tears, and Luke tears his eyes away from the bright flames to look at his best friend.

"What happened?" He asks. Calum drags a hand down his face, fingers dragging black soot down his cheeks; like warpaint. "I don't know, man. I was in there with this fit red head, and the next thing i know, there's barrels of hay on fire and i could barely breathe with all of the smoke."

"Where's Mikey?" Luke asks, a little frantically. Calum waves him off. "He was going to help find some water to try and put it out." He says, and then his eyes go nervous, biting at the corner of his bottom lip. Luke can feel his limbs locking up, chest feeling like one hundred pounds of lead.

"What is it?" He says, though he fears the answer.

Calum sighs, "Ashton went into the barn a couple minutes ago, i think there was somebody trapped in there." He say, eyes wide and face dusted in ash. Luke breathes in shaky, looks back to the barn, where there is a crowd of people circled around the entrance, hands clasped together like a prayer.

He's moving before he even has time to think, but Calum doesn't stop him, Luke sees him rushing over to where Michael is carrying two large tubs full of water over to the barn. Luke pushes passed the crowd of people, until he can see the entrance to the barn, blocked off by the roar of flames and thick black smoke. Luke shields his eyes, the heat burningg up his face, but he can't see anything inside of the barn. It seems like everyone is waiting on baited breath, minutes seem like hours.

Luke can feel the tears prick behind his eyes, and then he hears it. A cough, someone sounds like their choking. He looks around, but can't find anything, until a boy crawls from around the back of the barn, and collapses just as he gets in view of the crowd. Everybody rushes over to him, shouting orders to get him a wet cloth and anything they can find that's helpful, as someone calls the police. Luke holds his breath tight as he waits for another person, but nobody comes.

He backs away from the mess of people, and slips around the side of the barn, the sound of wood breaking is like a slap to the face. He stops though, when a cough comes from the back of the barn, and Luke tries to detect the person, tries to catch curly brown hair or pink paint or something. There's another cough, wheezing, twigs snapping, shuffling of feet. It's not Ashton, but Luke feels his heart pick up speed regardless.

Smash is scrambling against the ground, clutching a hand across his side as he chokes out breathless coughs, stumbling into the woods as his breathing gets more frantic. Luke looks around him, makes sure that nobody is around, and then follows after where Smash had disappeared into the woods.

It's hard to navigate where he's going, with the way his adrenaline is at full force, the night sky falling like a blanket over the trees, plus the alcohol running rampid through his system, but he does catch a flash of blue just up ahead, and he tries to keep up. His head is throbbing, and his legs feel like jelly, but Luke can still hear coughing coming from some direction, and that keeps him going.

Except, after he passes the same chopped down tree for the third time, he starts to believe that he's lost. He can't hear the coughing anymore, can't hear any movement, except faint chatter from back at the apartment complex. His limbs feel boneless, and all Luke wants is to fall asleep, preferably against his boyfriends chest, and once he thinks about Ashton, his knees buckle, and he drops to the ground with harsh sobs ripping from his chest. He curls into himself, letting the fat tears stream down his face.

After a considerate amount of minutes, his phone starts vibrating in his back pocket, and Luke answers without looking at the screen.

"Babe?" Ashton's voice rings throughout the line. Luke sits up.

"Ash?! Where are you?" His voice is scratchy, and he has to clear his throat twice before he feels his words won't come out high pitched and squeaky. "Talking to the police," Ashton says.

"Where the hell are you?" He asks, and Luke sniffles back a sob.

"I'm in the woods, i think i'm lost." He admits. He feels lost in more ways than one.

"Why the f-," Ashton sighs. "Don't move, i'm coming."

\--

"It's all over the news, man." Michael unhelpfully says, placing his phone between them at the lunch table. Luke wants to tell Michael to shove it, he's seen all of the news reports on the fire, words thrown about like arson and revenge.

Luke just doesn't have it in himself at the moment to be at school; not with the whispers directed at him whenever he walks down the hall, and the fact that Ashton has a stomach bug is just another reason to sleep all day.

He shoves the phone back over to Michael, snatches a gummy worm from Calum, and promptly walks through the cafeteria with his head held high, and hands shoved in his jacket pockets. Once he gets outside, he mentally congratulates himself for successfully ditching school for the first time in his life. He smirks, despite himself.

He doesn't even really know where to go, is the thing. He can't technically go home, since his mum is there. School's on for another two hours, so he just takes his time as he walks towards the center of town. Luke pulls his phone out, wondering if he should chance it.

Ashton answer on the fourth ring, "Have i really corrupted you this fast?" Is what he says in a raspy voice, exhaustion evident in the way he yawns right after. Luke frowns, "How'd you-,"

"Calum texted me," Ashton says. Luke rolls his eyes. "Good for nothing, the two of them." He says bitterly, though it just sounds like he's whining. He catches the key pendant in his hand, twirling it throughout his fingers. 

"Don't blame them," Ashton says, failing to conceal a yawn. "They're just looking out for you while i'm not there." He says softly, and Luke pouts, wishes the day was over already. Ashton makes a sound like ahum, and Luke imagines him curled up in bed, peaceful look on his already gorgeous features.

"I missed you today," He says, and hopes that he doesn't come off as clingy. Ashton hums, a sleepy sound that settles the buzz in Luke's bones. He kicks at a loose rock on the ground, keeps his head low in case any of his parent's friends decided to go out for the day.

"I miss you every second you're not with me," Ashton says. "Just know that whenever you need me, i will be there." He adds in a definite tone, and Luke believes him, but, oh. _Oh_.

Why didn't he think of this before? Those times where he was in danger, defenseless, his rescuer was always there. Smash was always there when Luke needed help the most.

"Uh-, my mum just drove by," He lies, but he just needs to do something. "I think i'm gonna go crash at Cal's place until school's over." He says, part of him wants Ashton to invite him over, ince he's never even seen his house, but again, pressing matters at hand.

"Alright, babe. I'll see you soon, okay?" Ashton yawns again, and Luke makes a sound of affirmation, and when the line disconnects, he stands still on the sidewalk and thinks. He knows that he can't just go on and jump in front of a car, he's already had one near death experience with a vehicle, gotta keep it fresh, shake things up. He could pick a fight-,

Brilliant.

Luke grins to himself, this is a great opportunity to let some steam out, and then, maybe, Smash will come to his rescue so he can finally have a chance to actually meet his savior and thank him. Plus, Ashton's been teaching him some self defense moves after Luke told him about the lax douche incident.

He figures the best place to start a fight is the park, though school is still in session, so hopefully it's not filled with young kids, that's just wrong. The park is a short brisk walk away, and Luke tries to come up with what he's going to say to provoke his victim. Bat call? Smash call?

There's a guy by one of the large bushy trees off of the playground, smoke billowing out of his mouth. Luke slowly, but steadily, walks towards the guy with his head low, thinking _this is a no smoking area_ is a terrible way to start a fight. The dirt under his feet slushes, and the guy turns around, face crunching into a frown when he sees this teenager stalking towards him with an angry scowl.

But Luke puts his all into it; every name that he's ever been called, that time Calum broke his favorite power ranger toy (And he said that he was okay with it, but _fuck_ , he's been pissed about that for twelve years), and before he can let himself think that this is a bad, bad idea, he brings his arm out of his pocket and hooks his elbow just like Ashton taught him, clocking the surprised guy right in the nose. He could feel the bone break through the bones in his arm.

The guy clutches his face, cigarette long forgotten, and looks up at Luke with wide eyes. "What the _shit_ , man?" He says, but Luke doesn't want to explain, he just wants this to happen. "Hit me." He says, waving the guy on.

When all he does is pull his eyebrows together in confusion, Luke groans. "C'mon, hit me. I'll let you have a free shot." He opens his arms, tilts his head back with closed eyes. He feels high on adrenaline, like he's invincible. The guy staggers up from the ground, walks forward until he is just a step away from Luke.

"You _want_ me to hit you?" He says in disbelief, but Luke just nods with a shrug. The guy shakes his head, blood leaking out between his fingers where he's cupping his nose. Luke's about to drop to his knees and beg for this guy to hit him, when out of nowhere, the guy aims his fist right to Luke's left shoulder.

" _Fuck_!" He yells, and thank the ones upstairs that there are no children around, but that fucking hurt like a bitch. The guy shake his hand out, nodding to himself, like he's pleased, the fucker. Luke clutches at his arm, but at the sound of feet hitting the blacktop, he whips his head up.

This time, Luke's not curled into himself in pain, nor is he in a tramatized state, no. It happens fast, but Luke keeps his eyes trained on blue.

Smash comes out what seems like nowhere, landing about a foot away from the guy, bless him, he can't even turn around fast enough before Smash takes the drumsticks from his back like they're ninja swords, and swipes them at the guy's legs, bringing him to the ground. Luke just gapes at him, and Smash meets his eyes, though Luke can't really tell with the mask, but he's gonna say it's a match.

Smash looks down at where Luke is clutching his shoulder, and he takes a step forward. Luke feels his breath hitch, but then Smash looks down at his gloved hands, and with a defeated shake of his head, he's taking off.

Luke snaps out of his trance.

"Hey! Wait!" He calls, running after the ridiculously fast blue blur, but Luke pushes everything he has and chases after him.

Luke's at the corner of the main road, when he catches a flash of blue from acoss the road, down an alleyway. He jogs across the street, and just sees blue feet go behind a door. It's not an alleyway that Luke's ever been in, not that he spends a lot of times in dark alleys.

There's vines hanging from the brick walls, little potted plants along the ground. Straight ahead, the light opens up, and there's a two story building hidden out of view, the door Smash disappeared into almost right in front of Luke.

His hand hovers over the handle, _should he really do this_ , _what if Smash is somebody that he doesn't like_? He closes his eyes, takes a steady breath, and turns the handle.

It's a garage like door, except this one, it's an entrance to a lift. Luke steps onto the lift, and presses the up arrow, feeling the anxiousness and eagerness start to rattles his bones as the door closes and the elevator whirs to life.

Once the lift stops, Luke takes a deep breath to calm himself. The door opens, and Luke slowly steps from the lift. It's a flat, though Luke didn't really know what he was expecting. There's a large sized bed just ahead, only one side unmade. When Luke steps futher into the flat, he sees a kitchen in one section behind the lift, and an entertainment corner in the other part. There's a massive tv against the wall, two bean bag chairs sat in front of it, a small end table in the middle of them, and every game console Luke can possibly think of right now.

What the fuck.

There's a hook on the side of the lift, and there it is, the famous suit, Luke brings his finger up to just ghost the fabric, doesn't want to ruin the magic or whatever that it holds.

He walks over to the bedroom section is, and there's a wall of pictures hanging up; pictures of sunsets, sunrises. Luke smiles at the prints, goes to trace his finger over the sun, when a picture catches the corner of his eye. He walks over to the table next to the bed, and picks up the frame, narrowing his eyes at the picture.

It's him, it's the picture Ashton took of him at the party, said that he looked like a kitten and wanted to take him home.

How _dare_ this person invade his personal life. He spins around, to leave presumably, but he stops dead in his tracks when he sees someone walking out of the bathroom by the kitchen, towel wrapped around his waist and another twisted on his head. Luke feels the anger deflate out of him though. This person saved him, _multiple_ times.

"Thank you," Luke speaks out, and the boy freezes, stuck between the bathroom and the kitchen. "I never got to say that to you." He adds. Smash doesn't move a muscle, so Luke takes a step forward.

"And, i wanted to return this to you." He shoulders off his backpack, takes the drumstick out and holds it in his hands as though it's a rare jewel. Luke can see the tense set of Smash's shoulders, the way his hands clench into fists around the material of the towel.

It's silent, the only sounds being Smash's rough breathing, and Luke's shallow breaths. He's about to call it a bust, he's said what he's wanted to say, and Smash doesn't seem eager to actually acknowledge him, but then Luke hears Smash inhale a deep breath, and he slowly turns to face him.

Luke feels the breath in his lungs escape past his lips on a quick exhale.

"You-," He says breathless, shaking his head to halt the traffic of thoughts racing through his mind. "You're unbelievable." He says, tossing his backpack off to the side, and taking those last few steps separating them, Luke catches the sides of Ashton's face in between his hands and fits their lips together in a searing kiss.

They seem to be in sync with each other, stumbling to the other side of the flat with barely an inch of space between them. Luke untangles the towel wrapped loosey around Ashton's head tossing it elsewhere, doesn't bother to see where it landed, and fits his fingers through Ashton's damp hair. Luke falls back on the bed, shifting so that he can lay against the pillows, and Ashton hovers over top of him, looking down at him with lust swimming in the hazel of his eyes.

They take it slow; lips moving together languidly but with purpose, and when Luke ghosts his hand down Ashton's torso, Ashton shudders, slight whimper getting trapped between their lips. Luke pulls back, and when he looks down between them, Ashton has his hand splayed over his ribs, pained expression twisting his face.

Luke leans up and kisses the corner of Ashton's mouth, guides him down to lay down against the mattress instead. There's a bruise spread across his ribs; the right side of his torso a purplish red, like spilled wine. Luke traces the edges of the mark, feeling the tremor ripple down Ashton's stomach like a wave.

He brings his lips down, and when they softly press against the bruise, Ashton lets out a choked breath. Luke doesn't ask where it's from, he remembers the way he had stumbled out of the barn with an arm wrapped tightly around his waist, each wobbly step as painful as the next. Ashton watches him, eyes wide and open.

Luke holds his hand out. Ashton laces their fingers together.

They move together, shedding Luke of his clothes, and Ashton out of his towel. Luke lays down next to him, head reasted on the pillow as they face each other on their sides; Luke making sure not to jostle Ashton's battered ribs.

Ashton reaches for him, bringing their lips together as he slides a warm calloused hand down the line of Luke's back, stopping just at the swell of his bum. He pulls back, looking Luke in the eyes, waiting. At Luke's nod, he slips two fingers past, and opens Luke apart on his fingers.

it feels like an explosion has errupted inside of him, the way Ashton twists and probes his fingers as if he knows what Luke needs, what he likes, just by the slightest hitch in his breath, or the way he clutches at Ashton. Closer, until there is not even a breath of space between them. 

Ashton lays Luke on his back, all the while placing kiss upon kiss against his lips, his neck, collarbone. He guides one of Luke's legs to hook around his hip, one of Ashton's hands sliding under his already feverish skin to press at the small of his back, supporting him as he slides in with a puff of escaped breath.

There is an absence of urgency between them, time be dammed, this moment is theirs for as long as they shall have it. Ashton rolls his hips, keeping his face close enough to Luke's, that he can feel before he hears the panting against his ear.

Ashton slides his hand from Luke's back, to the curve of his knee, keeping him wrapped tight around him, as his movements began to quicken. Luke feels on the brink of euphoria, consumed by Ashton; the press of his fingers against his leg, the slide of his torso against Luke's navel, where he is most sensitive. Luke brushes his lips against the underside of Ashton's ear, the hitch in his breath has Ashton faltering in his thrusts.

Ashton gets a hand on him then, bringing their lips back together. Luke digs his heel in the small of Ashton's back, urging him to just give what he has, no holding back. Luke wants to be Ashton's. To have Ashton own this part of him that was otherwise untouched.

Luke clutches at his back, merely breathing against Ashton's own parted mouth. Luke feels an array of emotion deep in his chest; greatful, amazed, awe. They swirl in his stomach for this boy, this man above him. Ashton was so many things Luke couldn't explain, but one thing he knew for certain; Ashton was a hero, Luke's hero.

When Ashton tightens his hold on Luke's leg, Luke feels the intensity at which they are bound together, in this moment, he feels whole. They reach their bliss simultaneously, gasping into each others mouths like an oath.

Something has changed between them, Luke can feel it in his chest, like a dull roar where his hear is pounding.

Ashton can feel it too, Luke guesses, from the way he holds Luke in his arms as if he would never hold anything more dear in his life.

\--

"So, what's your power?" Luke asks excitedly. Ashton laughs, smile as wide as his eyes. Luke feels giddy and happily sated.

"It's not much of a power, but i have like tripled senses." Luke frowns, and Ashton waves a hand around as if looking for an explanation.

"Like, I can see things from ridiculously far away, and I can hear a heartbeat from a city over. Plus, my speed is three times the average humans." He says, cocking an eyebrow at Luke when his eyes light up.

"I saw you scale that building after you saved me from that car," He says in a low voice, as if it's a secret.

Ashton nods, "Got the hang of that when I was around twelve." Luke shakes is head disbelievingly. When he was twelve, he was playing video games with Michael, while Ashton was jumping around buildings and listening in on people's conversations, probably.

They lay like that, content quiet between them.

"Why me?" Luke asks, head resting against Ashton's chest, fingers laced together on his stomach. He'd been thinking about it, each time Ashton would come to his aid, from what seemed like thin air.

There's a pause, as if Ashton is considering his words.

"Have you ever seen Twilight?" He asks, arm thrown carelessly behind his head. Luke frowns, not expecting such a silly answer. He nods his head, remembers when Michael dragged him and Calum to the movies for each premier. Ashton's hand slides along his back, warm and heavy.

"You know how the werewolves imprinted?" He asks. Luke lifts his head, eyes pinched in confusion. "You imprinted on me?" Ashton shakes his head. The sheet falls just below his waistline, exposing the sharp V of his hips, tanned skin contasting against the white material. 

"Kind of," He says. "We call it _connecting_." He looks at Luke, eyes brighter than ususal, waitig to see his reaction. Luke blinks.

"My dad said that when he first met my mum, he knew she was the one from the first glance. Said that it felt like coming home, belonging." Ashton says, hand a steady pressure against Luke's back.

"I didn't believe him, when he told me. I was only nine, and I didn't understand how you could just know that quick." He says, but he's not looking at Luke, rather at a pointless spot in the distance. Luke watches Ashton, feels the rumble of his words under his fingertips.

"But then I saw, the way he would protect her in a hearts beating, as if it was second nature to him. He had a purpose now, a reason to keep breathing." He says.

"It didn't occur to me that I may have already connected, but I was too young to realize that the feelings I held were anything passed fascination. It grew with me, turning into a longing sort of pull. I felt empty in my heart. Until that day you asked me for a pen." He smiles, the crinkles at the corners or his eyes a beautiful sight for Luke.

"You chose me, that day at the park." Luke says. It's overwhelming, how much he wishes that he would have stayed later that day, told his mum he wasn't hungry. Ashton meets his eyes. He brings the hand that was rested behind his head to cup Luke's cheek.

"And you found me." He says. Luke kisses him.

"But, how did you know when I needed help?" He asks. "Like that day with the guy," Ashton nods his head, though his eyebrows are pulled together like he's gathering his thoughts. It's dark outside, the only light coming from a streetlamp just outside the window, casting an orange glow over their naked skin.

"Connecting isn't just knowing who you want to be with," Ashton says. "It's like an oath; to protect your mate from any and all things harmful." Ashton gently grabs Luke's chin between his fingers, leveling him with open eyes.

"Keeping you safe is what I am sworn to do," Ashton says, dropping his hand down to wrap his fingers around Luke's wrist, and placing his palm open over his beating heart. "Being in love with you is completely my doing." Luke stares at him, and the ducks his head head against Ashton's ribcage, barely concealing an embarrassing squeal.

"You love me?" He asks, wide grin on his face. Ashton lets out a laugh, though it's more like a puff of fondness. "Yes, i do. Vey much." He says simply. Luke grins even wider, eyes squished to slits, and his heart is racing with the blush that flares down his neck and across his cheeks.

"Woah," He says in awe. 

There's a silence, Ashton rubbing at Luke's back with content on his face, and Luke tracing his finger along the bumps and dips of Ashton's torso.

"Hey, Ash?" Luke says as quietly as the thrum of Ashton's heartbeat. Ashton hums in acknowledgement, tapping at the bumps along Luke's spine. Luke doesn't answer for a few moments.

"What happened to your parents?" He says, and he half expecting Ashton to tense up, demand that they talk about any other topic. Ashton's looking up at the ceiling, unreadable expression illuminated in the glow from the streetlamp.

"My father was a very respected man," Ashton says. "Where I come from, the oath of protection is taken to the grave. Sacred, more or less. Some didn't agree with that." 

Luke is watching Ashton intently, the way his feature turn hard, the glow splashed throughout the othewise dark room gives off the vibe of one sitting around a campfire, swapping haunted stories.

"Red Roger, could turn even the most fozen block of ice into fire with a snap of his fingers." Ashton says, rubbing his thumb against two fingers absently, as if the memory has taken over him. "Used to come over and babysit me while my parents were at work."

Luke places a kiss to Ashton's side, lets it linger for a few seconds before pulling away and trailing three kisses across his abdomen. Ashton's hand slides to tangle in Luke's hair, scratching lightly at the small hairs by the nape of his neck.

"He'd always fancied my mum, everything that my father had, really." Ashton says. Luke lightly traces his tongues around his navel, feeling the bumps rise against Ashton's skin. "One night my father came home from work to find his house on fire, with his wife trapped inside."

Luke peeks up at Ashton from where he's crouched over his hips, sucking at the skin where his hip and thigh meet. Luke doesn't say anything, reckons that nothing he comments will be anything helpful. But, he thinks back to the apartment complex, the news lady talking about mentally ill people and _what an absolute travesty._

 _"_ He burned her alive, just like that." Ashton snaps his fingers, the click jumping through Luke's bones like a trigger. "My father broke the oath; he couldn't keep her safe and protected."

Luke presses his lips to the inside of Ashton's thigh, biting the skin between his teeth. Ashton's leg trembles, falling open as if on cue. Luke licks at the sore spot, soothes it with his tongue.

Ashton doesn't have to finish his story, nor does Luke want to hear how it ends, because he _knows_. He can practically feel the emotions wafting off of Ashton in waves, and the urge to just comfort him comes over Luke. He feels this rush of admiration for this boy, and Luke nips at his hip bone.

"Hey, Ash?" Luke says. Ashton blinks his eyes, and looks down at Luke, soft smile on his down turned face. Luke places a kiss right below his waistline, and Ashton's stomach jumps.

"I love you too," He says. Luke trails love bites and kisses all along Ashton's legs, until he can barely handle how Ashton is making the most sinful noises, and he gets to work.

\--

Luke wakes the next morning, or night; he can't tell through the darkness surrounding his sight. He tries to call out for Ashton, except it gets trapped behind the thick cloth shoved into his mouth. Luke starts panicking, his arms are bound down by what feels like chains, and his chest is being held against the chair he is in by a binding restraint.

"Hello, Luke." A deep voice sounds from somewhere, and Luke whips his head around, tries to free his eyes from their dark confines, but it's no use. "No need to be scared, i'm not going to hurt you." _Yet_ , Luke hears faintly.

He screams against the gag in his mouth, angry tears getting trapped in the blinfold wapped tight around his eyes.

Suddenly, the cloth is untied from around his head, and the blindingly bright room blinds him momentarily. When his eyes focus again, Luke stares with frantic eyes at the man standing before him. He has cooper colored hair, a crooked smile that seems to hold life's greatest tragedies, and he's crouched in front of Luke with this condescending smile that makes the hairs on Luke's arms rise in fright.

"You're a cute one," The man says. "Trigger chose well." Luke stares at the man, tears blurring his vision and throat burning from swallowed down screams. They're in the apartment, Luke facing the lift, and all he can think about is where the hell Ashton is.

The man rises from his crouched position, and Luke's eyes follow his every move. "Allow me to introduce myself," He says with a sarcastic smile.

"My name is Hydrant, and i'm Ashton's brother." Luke clutches his fingers around the arms of the chair, watching as _Hydrant_ paces about the loft, hands crossed behind his back.

"You see Luke," He says, fingers ghosting over the picture of Luke, lip twitching at the corner, a smirk. "Ashton took something very dear to me," He looks over his shoulder at Luke, smile playing along his lips. "And I intend to return the favor."

Luke screams, feeling himself getting lightheaded. Hydrant slowly walks towards him, like Luke is his prey, and when he gets right next to him, he brings a finger up to caress the side of Luke's face. Luke tries to move out of his reach, tries to communicate with his eyes how _not_ okay he is with this.

"Touch him and I will break every single one of those fingers," Luke early whimpers at the sound of Ashton's voice, who is standing just in front of the lift, hands posed on his hips. Hydrant smiles, pleased, and snatches his finger back.

"How nice of you to join us, Ashton. I was just telling Luke here how much I have missed you." Hydrant says, sending a wink to Luke. He spins around, clapping his hands together like this is all a pleasant gathering.

"What do you want, Hayden?" Ashton asks exasperatedly. 

"Is that any way to treat your brother whom you haven't seen in a long, long time?" Hydrant says, frowning over at Luke as if he's going to agree with him. Luke bites at the gag in his mouth.

" _Half_ brother," Ashton corrects. "And I asked you a question." Luke raises his eyebrows, as he's never heard this sharp tone come from Ashton before. Hydrant, _Hayden's_ smile slowly slips from his face, standing tall before Ashton.

"You have something that I want." Hayden says. Luke just catches the slight glance Ashton gives him, or rather at his chest, before his face is schooling back into a hard scowl. "You know exactly what it is as well." Hayden sneers, eyes narrowing in a sort of threat.

"If you were meant to have it, father would have given it to you." Ashton says, raising his chin with an air of confidence. Luke frowns, but then he feels the cold metal of the key against his skin, and he freezes.

"We both know how that's a lie," Hayden says. "Father always did like you the best." He flicks his wrist at Ashton, bitterly. Ashton ignores the comment though, face scrunching up in realization.

"You were the one who caused the fire," He says. Hayden inspects his fingernails with a shadow of a smile on his lips. Ashton balls his hands into fists at his sides, eyes dangerously narrowed. Luke glares at the back of Hayden's head, imagines Ashton knocking him straight through the floor to the basement.

Ashton goes to make a lunge at Hayden, unleash all of his anger of him, but Hayden holds a finger up; _not so fast_. "See Trigger, I expected as much from you, which is why I have something that should change your mind." He says, spinning back around towards Luke. 

"Now Luke," Hayden says. "I'm only telling you this because i've grown quite fond of you, actually. But, I have the power to _melt_." Hayden says with a curl at the end, like a thick cloud of smoke, right against Luke's ear. Ashton takes a step forward, but Hayden holds a hand out for him to stop.

"It looks like my lucky day, as well." Hayden smiles, Luke can feel the acid rising in his stomach. "Someone has so conveniently placed you on a nice metal chair, as well as these nice copper wrist straps." His teeth glint against the light, manic and evil. He trails his fingers over the hard clasps around Luke's wrists, smirking at the growl that comes from Ashton.

"And that adorable ring in your lip," Hayden says, leaning down so his mouth is right against Luke's ear. "That's gonna have to go." Luke feels a chill run through his body, and when he meets Ashton's eyes, he's shocked by the fact that Ashton is now in his suit, fists clenched by his sides.

"Where's the key, Luke?" Hayden whispers, tugging the gag out of his mouth. Luke coughs, trying to get some air back into his lungs. "Bite me," He spits, and Hayden flashes a devilish smile, looking at Ashton over his shoulder.

"Feisty, i like it." 

Ashton lunges at him then, feet moving quicker than Luke can even blink, sound like a roar ripping from Ashton's chest. The two of them scuffle around, Ashton ramming Hayden into the cement of the walls a few times, until Hayden ducks out of his hold and smiles childishly.

"I must say, this has been a wonderful visit, top ten at least." Hayden says, saluting to them obnoxiously. "I've gotta run though; bridges to burn, cars to compact, all that jazz." And then he's leaving down the lift, waving to them as he leaves.

Ashton runs over to him in a quick blink, pulling the mask of his suit over his head. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he _touch_ you?" Ashton asks, checking over Luke's bones to make sure they're all still intact.

"Ash, i'm fine." Luke assures. "If you could get me out of this chair, that'd be great." But before he can even exhale all the way, the strap around his chest loosens considerably, and Luke nearly slumps in the chair. Ashton gets the cuffs off from around his wrists from a screwdriver of all things, and Luke rubs at his wrist to relieve the ache.

"Why does he want the key?" Luke asks. Ashton falters in his steps for a second, rushing around the loft to make sure nothing is out of place, but then he's back to rummaging through random papers and magazines, keeping his blue covered back towards Luke.

"I need to go, i need to make sure Hay-, _Hydrant_ doesn't do anything." He says hurriedly, ducking his head and aiming for the lift. Luke unclasps the necklace from around his neck.

"What does he want the key for, Ashton?" Luke asks in a louder voice. The key dangles from between his fingers, and Ashton eyes it, from where he's just about to push the button for the lift.

Luke stands from the chair, legs feeling a little boneless, but he doesn't stop until he's right in Ashton's space, crowding him against the lift.

"It's the key to my father's powers," Ashton says in a soft voice. He goes to hit the button for the lift again, and Luke reclasps the necklace around his neck, tucking the key underneath his shirt. "Alright, let's go." He says, determined.

Ashton shakes his head, "No, you'e staying here." He says. Luke scoffs, reaching over Ashton for the call button. Ashton's fast though, getting a hold on Luke's wrist and pulling him closer, until their faces are less than a breath apart.

Luke swallows, looking into Ashton's eyes like a bug to a light. 

"I need you here, to keep me safe." Ashton says, tapping at the key through the fabric of Luke's shirt. He brings their mouths together, open and ready, and Luke's focus is on nothing but the press of Ashton's lips. 

Ashton grips at the back of Luke's thighs, and then he's lifting him up. Luke wraps his legs around Ashton's waist, keeping his hands pressed to the sides of his face, sealing their lips together in a deep kiss.

In what seems like a second, Luke is being dumped on the bed, Ashton dropping a lingering kiss to his forehead. By the time Luke snaps his head up, Ashton is already in the lift, mask tugged over his face. Luke groans.

It takes him a minute to wait for the lift, but once he gets outside, Luke doesn't give himself any time to think about anything, just walks briskly down the alleyway, heading for the main road. He doesn't get far though. Ashton seems to come out of thin air, trapping Luke against the brick wall with an arm next to either side of his head.

"I told you to stay here," Ashton says. Luke rolls his eyes, tries to budge out of Ashton's hold. No such luck. "Ash, c'mon." He tries, putting on his best kicked puppy face.  Ashton either chooses to ignore it, or just isn't affected, but Luke begs to differ. He brings his masked face nose to nose with Luke. 

"Stay here." He punctuates each word, like an order. Luke wants to argue, but then Ashton is gone like a swtich. _Trigger_ , Luke remembers hearing Hayden call him. Luke follows after him on instinct, the rush of the main road just at his fingertips. But then Luke's being pulled back, just at the opening of the alleyway, chaining him to the wall. When Luke looks over, there's a thick vine wrapped securely around his wrist, like a leash.

"Ashton!" Luke scolds, but as soon as the name i out of his mouth, he slaps a hand across his lips, praying that nobody has heard him. Nobody seems to be paying attention to him, though. There's a heard of people rushing down the road, cars abandoned, and people talking frantically on cell phones.

Luke manages to free himself of the vine after a long five minutes, but then he's lost. His first thought is to go find Ashton, but Luke knows that if Ashton senses that he's around, all of his focus will be on Luke, and not Hydrant. Luke bounces on his feet, fingering at the key resting against his chest.

He's taking off before he can even form a coherent thought, dashing down the sidewalk with this newfound determination. He dodges parked cars and lingering pedestrians, feet clapping against the pavement with his hurried steps. 

Luke doesn't stop running, not even once he jogs up the front steps and opens the door. Not until he spots the two lumps on the couch, and he dives across them, snatching the remote out of Calum's hand.

"What the hell, man? Where the fuck have you been?" Calum asks, but Luke doesn't answer, just changes the channel to the news and shifts around the couch so he's no longer sprawled on top of the two boys. He's on the edge of the seat when the news anchor continues her story on the situation on the bridge. Calum and Michael stop complaining instantly, watching the screen with wide eyes as cars piled on top of cars are being melted into one giant blob of metal.

"Knew you couldn't resist a superhero," Michael says smugly, and Luke decides on not filling his ego up anymore than needs to be. Hydant seems to be just going down the line of cars on the bridge, melting them one by one. The news camera pans out, and then Luke sees him, at the beginning of the bridge, jumping over piles of melted metal and debris, searching for any injured or trapped people.

Luke has his hands up to his face, biting at his thumb nervously. Michael and Calum seem neutral about the fact that one of their best friends is currently battling against his manic brother on a bridge, but then Luke remembers that they don't know that Smash is actually Ashton.

Smash seems to have found a straggler, caught between a near melted car, and a crushed motorcycle that looks to have caught her leg. Luke sits at the edge of his seat, saying a mantra of prayers in his head for Ashton to pull through.

It seems like they're waiting on held breath, until Smash pulls the girl from the mess, and runs her over to the paramedics. He's got what looks like tar caked onto his suit, weighing him down. Luke squeezes the key in his palm, trying to motivate Ashton through his thoughts.

 _You've got this, babe._  

As if Ashton has heard him, he takes off down the bridge with a charged energy, sprinting past the wreckage. He jumps on top of a lone car, standing tall on the roof, and Luke can hear him call ou to Hydrant, cupping his hands over his mouth for leverage.

Hydrant smirks, turning to Smash. He seems to be glowing, though it may be from his bright orange suit. Smash says something to him, it looks as though he is chastising him. Hydrant laughs, loud and boisterous. He aims his hand at Smash, and then the car that Smash is standing on starts to melt, clinging to his shoes as Smash tries to escape.

"Oh no," Luke whispers, watching with wide eyes as Smash struggles against the hot metal, pooling around his thighs. The key is warm against his palm, and Luke keeps his fingers wrapped tight around it. Hydrant has this look of victory on his face, of destroying his own brother, and Luke can feel the anger rise up in him. Smash struggles, but the thick liquid rises to his chest. Luke's heart pounds against his ribcage.

"No, no, no," Luke says, clutching the key harder. It burns against his skin, but his mind stays on Ashton, nearly succumb in the metal, while Hydrant smiles condescendingly. Luke clenches his jaw tight.

 _C'mon, Ash._  

"Holy fuck," Luke hears Michael say, but then all Luke sees is Ashton's soiled suit, and Hayden's manic grin, and he yells. It seems as if all of the sound in the world pushes past his throat, loud and animalistic, and _predatory_. That's his mate, and an oath is an oath.

When Luke opens his eyes, he's surprised to find the key clutched in his hand is now glowing. It seems to sparkle in the light, warm against his skin. On the television, it's like a thick cloud of smoke has washed over the screen, basking the scene in light grey.

Once the smoke clears up, Luke's mouth drops. It's an absolute mess on the bridge; puddles of metal look like black holes doting the road, part of the barrier has been ripped apart. Hydrant lays at the opposite end of the bridge, sprawled on his back, unmoving.

Luke tries to seek out blue, curly hair, something. There's no sigh of Smash anywhere. The police surround Hayden's unconcious body, hauling him into the back of a squad truck, and pedestrians cheer as they drive off. Luke just stares at the screen, can't feel anything. Michael and Calum may have said something, but Luke can't hear anything passed the blood rushing in his ears.

Luke snaps out of it though, when the doorbell rings. Calum goes to answer it, presumably because this is his house, but Luke stumbles off of the couch, flinging the door open with more force than he means.

It's Ashton, clutching at the doorframe with one hand, the other wrapped around his bare chest. He's coughing faintly, though when he meets Luke's eyes, Luke can tell that it's not from a lack of trying. Luke reaches a hand out, just as Ashton stumbles into his chest and passes out.

\--

"Thank you," Ashton says softly. Luke frowns in confusion. They're cuddled up on Luke's bed, hands twined together over Ashton's chest. Ashton raises his eyebrows at Luke's puzzled expression.

"You really don't know what you did?" He asks in disbelief. Luke shrugs.

"Babe, you saved my life." Luke pulls his eyebrows together in a frown, not understanding what Ashton means. 

After Ashton had woken up, Luke was surprised at how fast he healed. The bruises that were beginning to bloom across his sides and chest, now seem as if they are weeks old, barely visible. Ashton assured that all he needed was some water and cuddles, and he was good as new.

"I don't know what i did," Luke admits. "I just remember seeing red at that cocky smirk Hayden had, and i remember thinking that i needed you to be okay, and then everything just kind of went blank."

Ashton nods, "Takes a bit to get used to the control of powers." From where Luke's head is pillowed on one of Ashton's arms, Ashton scratches at the hairs on Luke's neck. "I can teach you, if you'd like." 

"Teach me what?" He asks, eyes slipping closed at how content he is right now. The outside world is dark, night falling over them, low hums of car engines passing down the road.

"To control your powers." Ashton says, and that wakes Luke right up. "What powers?" He asks, leaning his head up to meet Ashton's eyes. They're bright with a softness around the edge, so beautiful, Luke smiles just looking at him. Ashton smiles back.

"Babe, you broke the lock on the key." Ashton says, giggling at the horrified look on Luke's face. "Not in a bad way, silly."

Luke takes they key in his palm, running his thumb over the bumps and edges. It has a blue tint to it, like cobalt, though Ashton swears it matches the color of Luke's eyes. It's beautiful, and Luke feels like it's part of him now, a piece of himself he never knew was missing.

"Like i said Luke," Ashton says, smiling wide. "Father was very adamant about the oath, and you proved how loyal you are to your mate." He squeezes Luke's fingers, soft smile gracing his features. Luke stares with amazed eyes, and it's all just mad because he can literally _feel_ the power surging through him. 

"But, please let me do the saving from now on." Ashtin whispers. Luke ducks his head, pillowing his face against Ashton's shoulder. He imagines saving the world with Ashton, though he'd be content with just running next to him, watching as Ashton does what he was born to do. Luke would rather be the reason for Ashton to come home at night.

"So, does that make me your Mary Jane?" Luke asks with a soft smile. He looks down at their twined hands, and thinks, maybe, he wouldn't mind that so much. Ashton hums, taps his thumb against Luke's hand. "No," He says. "You're my Luke." And Luke thinks, with a grin, that he wouldn't have it any other way.

An array of police sirens pass by outside, firetruck not far behind. Ashton looks towards the window, and then at Luke. Hopeful.

"Go," Luke says. He watches as Ashton untangles himself from the bed, from Luke, and disappears through the bathroom for less than five seconds, emerging with his suit perfectly fitted against his body. Ashton walks to the bed and bends down to press his lips to Luke's.

When Ashton is at the window, tugging the mask over his head and one leg already over the ledge, Luke bites at the corner of his lip.

"Come back to me, though." He says. Questions. Ashton smiles, Luke can see it through the material of his mask.

"Always," Ashton promises, and then he is gone from the window, off to save another few people from danger.

Luke snuggles against the pillow Ashton was using, hiding his smile in the dark of the night. He can wait for Ashton to come back to bed. He would wait a lifetime for him. 


End file.
